


new hope reborn in every tragedy

by dancingassassin



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: (except not really), Angst, Angst with a Hopeful Ending, Anxiety, Canonical Character Death, Implied Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison/Reaper | Gabriel Reyes - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jesse McCree has a crush, M/M, Mild Language, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 23:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10559196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingassassin/pseuds/dancingassassin
Summary: Originally written at NakaKon 2017 during the Iron Fic contest. I hand wrote 7 pages in an hour, hahaha. I rewrite it once I'm home and it turns into THIS. Theme: time travelA mission that Jesse and Hanzo are on goes sour and the two are caught in an explosion that sends them back in time. Jesse knows exactly where they are, he just hopes he's wrong about when.(fic title is from the song 'Under Grey Skies' by Kamelot)(I MIGHT write follow-ups to this)





	

Jesse had thought the mission had been going quite well. There had been a few complications, but when _weren’t_ there complications on a mission? If a mission was going too well, Jesse started to get suspicious. The recon mission in Ilios had shifted from a simple stakeout to him and Hanzo running like mad to keep their identities hidden from the multitude of Talon agents that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Jesse had been irritated to note that Reaper was among them and, given that it was just him and Hanzo right now, he didn’t really want to tangle with Reaper.

It would be an ugly fight.

While he was glad that Winston trusted him enough to run missions with only one person for backup, Jesse was really wishing that there was a bit more firepower on call. Angela got all sorts of angry when he came back with anything more than garden variety bruises, and even then Jesse had to sit through a lecture on being careful. And he was happy to run missions with Hanzo – they got on well and worked nicely together. Despite initial tension because of what had happened to Genji in the past, they had started a friendship.

And maybe Jesse had a _tiny_ crush on Hanzo.

It’s not like he was going to act on it. He was pretty sure Hanzo would shoot him full of arrows if he brought something like that up. Jesse was happy being friends – he hadn’t been afforded the luxury of having friends when he’d been on the run and working as a bounty hunter. It was _nice_ having friends again.

Jesse dive-rolled with a grunt as he and Hanzo ducked into an alleyway to avoid some operatives that were getting too close for comfort. He got to his feet from the roll without issue, only to have Hanzo shoving him bodily against the wall. There was a burning ache in his side, but Jesse was ignoring it for the moment. He had bigger things to worry about.

“What the fu-” A hand clamped over Jesse’s mouth before he could finish the crude phrase. He glowered down at Hanzo and was half tempted to bite or lick his hand out of spite. He squirmed but found that, despite being smaller; Hanzo was strong enough to hold him in place without any issue. Jesse wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that.

“Shh!” Hanzo held his hand across Jesse’s mouth a bit more firmly.

_Is this some weird form of foreplay?_ Jesse huffed around Hanzo’s hand and kept trying to wriggle away. He didn’t like the idea of being barely hidden in an alley when the whole damn area was swarming with Talon.

“Be still.” Hanzo pressed closer yet and Jesse shivered at the hot breath ghosting against his ear. “They’re close by…”

_Yes, and that’s why we need to get the hell outta here!_ Jesse snorted, but stopped struggling to get out of Hanzo’s hold just to appease him. He didn’t exactly what an arrow pointed in his face once they got to the transport. That would put a damper on an okay day.

The tension in the air was enough to make Jesse want to run like hell, but he calmed himself enough that his breathing was quiet and his body still. He could hear the booted footsteps of multiple agents thumping in the general vicinity. A shiver passed through his body and the small hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. That flight response kicked in full gear, but he forced himself to stay put. Hanzo seemed to pick up on it, his face softening and shifting towards confusion. Jesse shrugged – he didn’t know what it was, but something was telling him to get out. Preferably five minutes ago.

The cause came in the form of a rough, almost distorted voice humming. Jesse’s eyes went wide and he shoved against Hanzo once again. _Shit! Not now not now not now…!_ Heavy footsteps were sauntering closer and closer to them. With each step, the temperature seemed to drop, though Jesse accepted that _that_ part might have been in his head.

“McCree…stay still! Quiet!” Hanzo hissed through gritted teeth and continued to keep him pinned. But his face had twisted in concern when he heard the humming and the almost lazy footsteps.

Jesse struggled to keep his breathing under control and his emotions in check. Panic was bubbling to the front of his mind because he really didn’t want to deal with _Reaper_ right now. Not after Jesse had started hearing rumors about Reaper’s _true_ identity. _I can’t believe that, it can’t be, it isn’t possible…he would **never** …_

The footsteps stopped, as did the humming. “Hello ingrate.” Reaper’s voice was distorted, but still somehow managed to sound eloquent. There was a familiarity in the diction that Jesse knew exactly where he’d heard it before, he was just unwilling to accept the truth. _It can’t be true…it just can’t_.

Jesse’s eyes settled on the device in Reaper’s hands. There was an odd blue glow to it, one that reminded him strongly of Lena’s chronal accelerator, or her pulse bombs…or…Hanzo’s dragonstrike. But his mind told him that this was different. This was _very_ different.

“Safe travels, ingrate.” Reaper rolled the device into the alley that Jesse and Hanzo had taken refuge in.

_Shit!_ Jesse’s mind supplied exactly what the device was a few precious seconds too late. It was a bomb. And they were in a tight alley. There wasn’t anything he could do, he wouldn’t be fast enough to kick it back at Reaper, they couldn’t disarm it in the time left…all he could do was stare in terror at the damn thing. His eyes went wide as the blue glow grew brighter and brighter until it enveloped both him and Hanzo.

 

* * *

 

 

Jesse groaned as he woke. The ache in his side had intensified; it felt like someone had shoved a hot poker through the skin. _Maybe I got hit with some shrapnel or some shit like that…_

Wait.

There had been a bomb.

He felt all along his body for burns or any damage that would occur after being that close to a bomb, but all Jesse found were the run of the mill bruises and scrapes that one got on normal missions. Well, save for whatever was going on with his side. Jesse pulled his hand away and saw blood.

“Aw fuck…seriously? When did I get shot…” He grumbled to himself as he shoved to his feet.  Of course he’d managed to get shot and hadn’t even realized it. That was just his shitty luck. At least it seemed more like a flesh wound than anything else…

Wait.

_Where the hell is Hanzo?_ Jesse scrabbled around the surrounding area with wide, frightened eyes until he found the archer on the ground. Panic flashed through his chest – _oh god Genji’s gonna murder me if I got his big bro killed!_ He nearly collapsed to his knees as he took Hanzo’s pulse and looked for signs of breathing. Thankfully, he found both. He was just unconscious. He exhaled and stayed kneeling on the ground as he tried to calm himself.

Jesse finally looked around at his surroundings. Instead of the bright blue sky and white buildings of Ilios, he was met with rolling green hills and the sight of a large building nestled between two particularly large hills. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the building. _That’s impossible…that can’t…that can’t be real…_

Where they were was impossible. Jesse knew that because where they were didn’t _exist anymore_. His eyes settled on the words etched onto the side of one of the towers – ‘Watchpoint Geneva.’ He knew the other side read ‘Overwatch Headquarters.’ This building didn’t exist anymore…it had been blown to pieces when Overwatch fell from grace. When everything went to shit…

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand wrapping around his throat and squeezing. “Explain, McCree. Explain why we are no longer in Ilios.” Hanzo’s voice was low and gruff and far more irritated than usual. “Where the hell are we?”

Jesse’s hands flew up in a classic pose of ‘I don’t want trouble!’ Really, he just wanted to be able to breathe. “Don’t know how it happened and I dunno why you think would know. But uh…we’re kinda in Switzerland.”

The sheer ridiculousness of his statement seemed to send Hanzo into some sort of shock, which Jesse was grateful for because the archer let go of his throat. He rubbed at it and chewed on his lower lip. _Not sure how I’m gonna convince him that I’m not high as a kite…_

“You’re fucking with me.” Hanzo deadpanned. “You’re fucking with me and I do not appreciate it, Jesse McCree. You tell me how to get back to Gibralter right now! Genji…” Hanzo’s voice broke as he mentioned his younger brother and Jesse noted that he paused and seemed to be trying to compose himself. “You will get me back to Gibralter so I may continue to protect my brother, to _atone_ for what I did, or I will _end_ you.”

_I really shouldn’t find him hot when he’s talkin’ like that._ Jesse swallowed dryly and kept his hands up – almost like he was surrendering. “Hey now, if I knew how we got here, I’d letcha know. You know I wouldn’t fuck with you like that.”

Hanzo almost seemed to deflate at those words, though there was still a razor sharp look in his eyes. “…how do you even know we’re in Switzerland?”

“Uh…well…ya see…” Jesse pointed at the Watchpoint that was just off in the distance. “What’s the tower say?”

“Wait a second…” Jesse had to admit that it was amusing as all hell to watch Hanzo go through the same series of realizations that he’d already gone through, but the gravity situation kept him from reveling in it. That and it wasn’t particularly kind to take pleasure in someone’s suffering. Even if it was funny. “But the Watchpoint in Switzerland…”

“Blown to fuck all.” Jesse finished for Hanzo as he got to his feet. Sitting around was starting to seem like a bad idea. The Switzerland watchpoint always had patrols scouting around because of the amount of media drones that swarmed in hopes of gleening any bits of information on Overwatch.

Jesse stretched and hissed at the sudden, burning pain that spread across his side. _That’s  gonna be problematic, ain’t it._ He made a note to check it over once they got somewhere safe, he was certain that checking it now was a bad idea. Jesse didn’t like the idea of someone sneaking up on them while he was busy pulling up his body armor. _How the he’ll did I get hit there anyway? I’m wearing a chestplate…my squishy bits are all covered._

His attention finally shifted over to Hanzo again. The archer was still sitting on the ground and didn’t  seem to be getting to his feet any time soon. His eyes were wide and his expression somewhere between flat and dismayed. He was muttering in Japanese. While Jesse didn’t know an incredible amount of Japanese, he had known Genji long enough to know the basics. Hanzo was babbling on about all of this being a dream, that it wasn’t possible for them to travel across the world in an instant and that it was utterly I possible for them to have gone back in time. _I wouldn’t say that time travel is impossible given that we know Lena…_

Actually, if Jesse thought about the moments before the bomb exploded there had been a blue glow very reminiscent to the ribbons that trailed after Lena when she blinked through time and space. And he remembered that thought crossing his mind at that point as well. He would have to think on that more once they were somewhere ‘safe’. Well, as safe as they were going to get in whatever this situation happened to actually be.

“Hanzo, we’ve gotta get moving. Ain’t a good idea to sit in one place when we don’t know the situation.” Jesse reached down to shake Hanzo’s shoulder lightly. He knew it was a dicey decision given that Hanzo was an assassin and was all ninja-like. He was prepared for whatever attack that Hanzo decided to throw at him.

Jesse wasn’t entirely sure what happened, just that whatever it was happened _very_ quickly. He was still on his feet, but he was staring down at the grass and dirt. A quick inventory of his body let Jesse know that there was pain blitzing through his shoulder and side. And more disturbingly, there was the cold sensation of metal against this throat. A moment later, Jesse’s mind caught up with reality. Hanzo had grabbed him into a shoulder lock and had an arrow pressed to his throat. If the lock didn’t hurt so much, Jesse would have been impressed by how fluidly Hanzo had moved from sitting to standing. _This is weirdly arousing and I ain’t sure why. Ugh, now’s not the time to be distracted by a sexy archer who can kill me with his pinky. Focus McCree!_

“Whoa now!” Jesse bleated as he forced himself to not react like his training told him to, he didn’t want to wind up fighting Hanzo right now. “Not tryin’ to hurt ya, darlin’!”

“I am _not_ your darling!” Hanzo all but snarled against Jesse’s ear. But he released Jesse from the joint lock and took a few steps back. “Agreed…we should find somewhere to figure out this…situation.” He said the word ‘situation‘ in a way that gave Jesse the impression that Hanzo wanted to say ‘clusterfuck’, but wanted to instead appear proper.

Jesse nodded wearily and motioned for Hanzo to follow. He knew that the archer preferred to be the one leading, but Jesse was the one who had the lay of the land. Hanzo was going to have to deal with Jesse taking point on this one.

But Hanzo had frozen again. _Oh no, not this again…_

They couldn’t afford to have Hanzo go into some sort of fugue state again, not when patrols could be coming around at any given time. “Hanners…c’mon! We need to get movin’!” In his mind, Jesse was already playing through the different methods of snapping Hanzo out of that state again.

“Shh!” Hanzo jabbed his finger in the direction of the Watchpoint.

Jesse glanced over his shoulder and felt ice drop into his stomach.  There was already a patrol incoming. They’d wasted too much time bickering…no…this was just bad luck. He glanced around their surroundings again for any sort of escape, but nothing was coming to mind. There was no cover nearby. The deeply ingrained response of running surged to the forefront of his mind. But Jesse knew that was a bad idea. Beyond bad, actually. He knew that the patrol would just shoot them if they ran. After all, they were trespassing on private property. And they were armed. While they weren’t threats,  Jesse was well aware that they appeared to be dangerous.

He turned back to Hanzo and gave a weak smile. “I’ve got nothin’, sugar. We run, they’re shootin’. They’ll jus’ take us in for questionin’ and let us go when they realize we are harmless.” _Hopefully. Unless they think we’re dangerous or realize Hanners’ is a Shimada…_

Granted, that didn’t really solve the whole ‘wrong year’ and  ‘wrong country’ problems.

To Jesse, it seemed like Hanzo was debating if he could outrun bullets and make it to cover. Jesse had tried that whole outrunning bullets thing when he was young and stupid and running with Deadlock. He had scars from the attempt – needless to say, it hadn’t gone as well as he’d planned. He didn’t bother to bring this up to Hanzo, under the best of circumstances, Hanzo had little tolerance for how much Jesse tended to ramble. _Though sometimes his irritation seems more amused than angry..._ But when they were on missions? His tolerance dropped considerably. That, and Jesse knew that Hanzo was going to realize that - ninja or not - he could not outrun bullets. Physics said no.

“…it is not ideal, but I suppose that it is the best course of action.”

“’specially cuz I’m not gonna be runnin’ too well right now. Kinda got shot back at Ilios.” Jesse laughed weakly and scratched the back of his neck. “s’nothing serious, just a flesh wound.”

It looked like Hanzo was going to respond, but both went silent when they heard the voices of the patrol getting closer and closer. Jesse closed his eyes and prepared himself for seeing teammates who might be dead in Jesse’s time. And for the fact that they were going to be looking at him like he was an enemy.

“Holy shit, look at that! That guy’s dressed even more like a cowboy than McCree used to, Reyes. I didn’t think other cowboys were running around. Genji would get a kick out of this.”

Jesse’s blood ran cold. _Reyes._ His mind was having trouble deciding what it should latch onto, there were far too many things running through his mind. But he settled on one important detail – _like McCree used to wear._ This was after he had left Blackwatch. That brought up multiple complications. The biggest, or at least the one that kept circling through his thoughts like vultures over carrion, was that there wasn’t a huge window of time between when Jesse had left Blackwatch and when the Switzerland watchpoint had blown sky high. He could only hope that they were closer to when he had departed. The other fact was that Jesse was still wearing his very recognizable hat and belt buckle – and while he looked _a little_ different than he had back then, he still looked like himself. While the guards might not recognize him, _Gabriel Reyes_ was certainly going to be able to do so.

Gabriel Reyes. Jesse’s mentor, the man who had dragged Jesse out of Deadlock and offered him a chance at redemption. Granted, that was after he had scared the ever loving shit out of Jesse for the better part of two days. There had been a choice – redemption or life in prison. Jesse wasn’t particularly book smart, but he didn’t want to lose a chance at living before he was even an adult. Jesse was to join Gabriel’s unit – Blackwatch. Trust had taken time, but they’d gotten close. Gabriel understood Jesse and vice versa. Eventually, they’d become something more than superior and subordinate or friends. Jesse wasn’t sure if Gabe had been more like a brother or father, but they’d become family. They were kin even if they didn’t share blood.

That’s why hearing about Switzerland had devastated Jesse. Not only was someone who had become his family been killed…but he was apparently the cause of the explosion. He had supposedly turned against Jack Morrison and the whole of Overwatch out of something as petty as jealousy. _Why in the name of anything would Gabe have turned against **Jack** of all people? They were basically married!_ Gabriel Reyes went down as a jealous traitor, he’d been dishonored, all his achievements were tainted by that one fact. And the part that ate Jesse up inside was that he hadn’t been there for Gabe. _He was my fucking brother and I left him and then…and then **that** happened. Some kin I am._

Jesse shook off the intense self-loathing that came when he thought about the past too much. Now was not the time. He couldn’t afford to get too stuck in his thoughts right now, not when they were about to be Gabriel Reyes’ enemy. He exhaled and braced himself for the worst.

“Vaquerito would be using this pendejo to justify the whole cowboy getup as being a legitimate fashion statement.” Jesse’s chest tightened at the old nickname and the mere _sound_ of Gabe’s voice. “Shame the little ingrate ran off. Looks like this cowboy has a yakuza friend. Kinda wish Genji was here to give us some insight on who this guy might be.”

Jesse watched Hanzo stiffen at the mention of his younger brother. _This isn’t good…we’re both gonna be recognized._ He was sure he’d been in worse situations,  but Jesse couldn’t think of any examples. But he knew they needed to stay calm. Panicking would do no good. “Stay calm.” He hissed the words under his breath.

The expression that Jesse got in return  for that comment was withering to the point that Jesse was certain it would render most people sterile. Again, he might be amused under different circumstances, but their present situation made it difficult to find anything funny.

“Alright pendejos, weapons on the ground. Real slow.” Gabe’s voice was good natured, but Jesse knew him well enough to hear the irritation hiding underneath the surface. He was just playing nice for the moment. “Not sure why people think they’re going to be able to break into HQ. Pull your heads out of your asses; I’ve got more important things to do than deal with trespassers.”

Jesse set Peacekeeper down on the ground, followed by his flashbangs, and the other little weapons he had stashed on his person. Then he held his breath. _Don’t recognize Peacekeeper, please please please please please please…_ The word kept repeating in his mind, though he knew it was a pipe dream. Gabe was the one who had given him Peacekeeper, there was no way he wasn’t going to recognize the gun. A quick glance to his left confirmed that Hanzo had set down his bow and quiver of arrows as well as the multitude of weapons that somehow hid in that kyudo-gi.

“Wonder if this guy has been stalking McCree.” Another of the guards snorted. “That looks like McCree’s gun, doesn’t it?”

_Aw c’mon, can’t I have **any** good luck?_ Jesse closed his eyes and held his breath. There was part of him that wished that he’d switched to a different gun for missions – one that didn’t have so much sentimental value to him, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to stop using Peacekeeper. Plus, it’s not like he could anticipate _being thrown back in time_.

“…that doesn’t look like vaquerito’s gun.” Gabe’s voice had hardened – the good-natured façade had crumbled away. “That _is_ his gun. That’s Peacekeeper. I’d know, I got it for him.” There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. “What did you do to him? You hurt him?” His voice was getting grittier, the poised diction falling away to something rough and abrasive. “Turn around. Now. Both of you.”

His eyes darted over to Hanzo. The other man looked about as frightened as Jesse had ever seen him. The fact that he was showing fear at all was telling. He wanted to say something comforting to him, to tell him that this was going to be okay, that they were going to get out of this…but Jesse knew it was going to get ugly. _Really_ ugly. “…sorry Han…this is gonna get bad.” He whispered the words before he slowly turned around.

There was a collective gasp at the sight of the rest of Jesse’s attire. The BAMF belt buckle, the hat with the distinctive decorations; all things that they knew Jesse wouldn’t be parted with willingly. Of course, they didn’t know that Jesse was standing before them. But Jesse’s attention was on the other Blackwatch members standing before him. He did a mental tally as he glanced along the small group. _Dead…dead…hates me…unknown…works for Talon now…dead…_

And then there was Gabe. He was standing at the middle of the group and even though many of the others were equal to his height, or even taller, Gabe appeared to be the tallest. Perhaps it was how he carried himself; perhaps it was his personality, or a combination of those two things. There were a few more scars on his face than Jesse remembered and maybe the _smallest_ signs of wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. But Gabe looked basically like he had when Jesse had left. Somehow, that made it harder to see him. If he had looked vitally different, maybe it wouldn’t feel like Jesse had been punched in the gut.

Before Jesse could even comprehend what was happening, pain was flashing across his left cheekbone. He stumbled backwards, but didn’t hit the ground. That alone surprised him since he was pretty sure his legs had just turned to jelly, there was no reason that he should be standing on his own. But rough skin near his throat clued him in that someone was holding him up by the collar. He tried to get his eyes to focus enough to tell who it was, but he didn’t really need eyesight to know. It was Gabe.

“We’re bringing them in for questioning. Freeman, grab the other guy.” Gabe’s voice was little more a snarl and he shook Jesse for emphasis. “I mean it, I have better things to do than deal with trespassers, but I’m going to make a special exception for you.”

Jesse felt his blood run cold. No, he didn’t want to be a special exception. He knew what that meant. He’d been a ‘special exception’ when Gabe had been ‘questioning’ him after the Deadlock sting. It was a position that he had wanted to avoid for the rest of his life, but it seemed that fate or karma or _whatever_ deemed it was time for him to experience it again.

He closed his eyes as he was dragged toward the Watchpoint. Jesse had thought that today had been going okay. _Guess I should stop thinkin’ things like that, Murphy’s law and all…_

* * *

 

The trip to headquarters hadn’t been pleasant in the least and Jesse was nursing a few new bruises and cuts. Angela was going to give him a massive lecture because of it, he knew it. _That’s if me an’ Hanzo manage to get out of this clusterfuck._

He and Hanzo had been put into a single holding cell and told explicitly by Gabe that he would be back soon. The smile on Gabe’s face had been nothing short of terrifying. Jesse had to assume that they were low on space if they were housing the two of them together, though. Normally associates weren’t allowed to be put in the same cell. They might _collude_ and find a way to escape. He supposed that they did have their hands cuffed behind their backs and then were bound to the chairs. It was something that Jesse could get out of if he had the motivation; that much he was aware of.

But Jesse wasn’t making any attempts to escape from being bound or the cell or anything. He’d been petrified from the moment they entered the Watchpoint. The feeling of _I’m not supposed to be here_ was utterly overwhelming and almost made it difficult to get a full lung of air. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the second they’d been shoved into the cell, Jesse had been slammed into unpleasant memories of his seventeen-year-old self being interrogated by Gabe.

He hadn’t been able to extricate himself from those memories yet.

“…Jesse…” Hanzo’s voice was soft and his lips were barely moving. Jesse could vaguely hear that his name had been said, but he didn’t react. “Jesse. Look at me. _Now_.”

Despite the quietness of Hanzo’s voice, it was bitingly sharp and cut through the fog that had settled into Jesse’s mind. “Huh?” He jolted against the chair and groaned when he realized that he was still in the damn cell and that he had no idea how they were getting _home_. “What?”

“Focus on me.” Hanzo said evenly, though his lips were still barely moving. “Are there microphones or cameras in here?”

Jesse nodded. He swallowed dryly and motioned to the upper corner with his head. At least that’s where the cameras had been located before he left Overwatch. He wasn’t entirely sure how he remembered that stupid little detail, but he did. He knew that the microphones were pieces of shit despite Overwatch having a large budget and many people who were good with technology. He imagined that Lucio would have a fit if he heard about how terrible the microphones were back in the day.

“Yeah. The mics aren’t great.” Jesse kept his naturally loud voice as soft as he could manage and tried to not move his lips. It was harder than it seemed.

A few announcements broadcasted over the PA system, but what was mentioned first was the date. And it was one that sent chills down Jesse’s spine. _No, no it can’t be. Please…it **can’t** be…_

Jesse could roll with the punches with the best of them, at least he thought he could. He’d rolled with a lot of them today. Mission had gone tits up? That’s fine, he and Hanzo would be fine. Weird bomb sends them back in time to Switzerland? Fine and dandy. But being in Switzerland on the _day that everything blows up?_ Not okay. Not okay in the least.

The panic was surging up again as was nausea. Jesse chewed on the inside of his lip and tried to keep himself calm, but it was becoming more and more difficult to do so. He clenched his jaw tightly and ignored the tears that were burning at the corners of his eyes.

“…Jesse?”

Right.

He wasn’t alone.

Hanzo was with him.

Jesse offered a weak smile. This wasn’t all about him, he had to be looking out for his partner. He took in Hanzo’s appearance – bruised and scraped, but otherwise he seemed uninjured. But his skin was pale and his lips were forming a tight line. Instead of the usual stoic expression, there was fear. _Shit…I don’t want to see him lookin’ scared…_

“I’m with you.” Jesse’s lips twitched into what he hoped was a smile.

“How are we getting out of this?”

Hanzo sounded so _young_ in that moment, so _vulnerable_. And it damn near broke Jesse’s heart because he didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t know how they were supposed to get out of this. Years of running with Deadlock, years of training with Blackwatch, and years of being on his own and he couldn’t think of a single thing that would actually get them out of this situation relatively unharmed. _Some agent I am, can’t even get us out of this mess…_

All he wanted to do was be able to tell Hanzo that they were going to get out of this just fine and that they’d be home soon. That’s all he wanted.

Jesse didn’t get a chance to answer. The door to the cell opened with a clang and the fluorescent lighting of the hallway flooded the room. Jesse grumbled and closed his eyes tightly so he didn’t wind up seeing spots for the next half hour or so.

“What do you want, Jack?” Gabe was standing in the doorway, one of his feet was holding the door open and his arms were crossed over his chest. “I have people to interview. The one might know what happened to McCree.”

Jesse watched as Jack stepped into sight. His hair was just as grey as he remembered and there were more wrinkles lining his face. But Jesse noted that he looked tired and worn. His face was twisted in concern and curiosity and sharp blue eyes glanced into the cell. “…the one wearing his belt buckle?”

Jesse chanced a look at Hanzo, the other man was staring at Jack with wide eyes. He looked over to Jesse and mouthed ’76?’ All Jesse could do was nod. He squirmed against the cuffs and chair, but it did nothing to get him closer to being free.

“Yup.” Gabe switched to holding the door with his hand and rocked back on his heels. “I’ll get him singing. Then I’ll write that mission report for you.”

_This really doesn’t seem like them being ready to fight each other…_ Sure, things felt a bit tense, but not in the sense of ‘these two people are clearly in an argument’. More like general work stress.

“Thanks Gabe. I have some new recruits to inspire.” Jack rolled his eyes and shrugged slightly. “…find out where McCree is. Who’s the other one?”

“Some yakuza guy. Genji’s off in Nepal so I’m going to have to look up this guy on my own.” Gabe huffed in irritation. “Just what I need, more work. Guess we’re going to have to reschedule dinner again.”

The words stabbed into his chest like a knife and twisted. They missed him, they were worried about him. Jesse stared down at his lap and chewed on the inside of his lip again. He could taste his own blood, but he didn’t really care at the moment.

But the fact that Jack and Gabe were rescheduling dinner _again_ caught Jesse’s attention. They’d always made time for each other, even when things were balls to the wall. _Did things really get so busy that they couldn’t even grab dinner together? Shit…_

“Yeah, guess so.” It didn’t take an expert to hear the disappointment in Jack’s voice. “Alright. Get info on McCree. I’m going to go motivate those recruits.”

“Hey, you’re the one with a statue.” Gabe teased. “You’re the best one for motivation.”

Jesse watched Jack flip Gabe off as he walked away, but there was a smile on the strike commander’s face. There was a similar one on Gabe’s face – and it completely changed how he looked. The hardness was gone and it was clear that he had a few laugh lines. But it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

Something wasn’t lining up. All of the stories had said that Jack and Gabe were at each other’s throats. This seemed more like them being stressed because they didn’t have any time to be together. All the stories said that Gabe had been the instigator, but he was still listening to Jack and working hard. Like always. _What the hell…this…where the hell did those stories come from??_

There was a heaving sigh, followed by the cell door closing with a very _final_ sounding click. Jesse could recognize Gabe’s footsteps without any issue. They were heavy from the thick boots he wore and had a purposeful stride. “You’re keeping me from having dinner with him.” The words were murmured, deceptively soft given the situation.

Jesse lifted his head minutely and spared a glance at Hanzo. If possible, Hanzo had gone paler than before. He knew that Hanzo Shimada did not scare easily. The two of them had been in plenty of life threatening situations without him batting an eye. But Jesse knew the look of genuine fear. He’d seen it many times when he was working with Gabe during ‘interviews’. There were times that he’d sworn he’d learned what fear actually smelled like. Whatever Hanzo could see was scaring the ever loving daylights out of him.

A clink of metal on metal caught Jesse’s attention. _Oh no…please not that…_ Despite knowing what Gabe was moving across the table, Jesse looked up to check anyway. Gabe’s toolkit.  Bile was rising in the back of Jesse’s throat and he blinked away tears. Seeing Gabe like that, seeing the tools, it shoved Jesse straight back to when he was seventeen. A skinny, gangly kid who was too damn good with guns who managed to outwit Blackwatch agents, but not so good that he _won_. Seventeen and faced with life in prison. Jesse clenched his fists and tried to steel himself. It was going to be awful, he knew that. He _remembered_ that.

“I could say the problems started when vaquerito left…but that’s a lie.” Gabe’s voice was still subdued, the calm before the storm. “It started before that, it just got worse when he left. And you…you dare walk around with his hat and belt and gun…” Dark eyes fixed on Jesse and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. “You’re going to tell me everything you know about Jesse McCree. And when you think you’ve told me everything, I’m going to find _more_ information.”

_Shit, he got scarier with age…_

Jesse shrank back against the chair and closed his eyes. He wanted to be brave, he wanted to keep his head held high and his shoulders back partially for his own pride and partially because he didn’t want Hanzo to see him whimpering in terror. He didn’t want to be seen as _weak_. But how could he be anything _but_ weak when he was on the brink of tears and barely able to breathe? Jesse couldn’t bring himself to look at Hanzo when he was feeling so pathetic.

Gabe’s footsteps were coming closer and Jesse pressed back against the chair in a feeble attempt to put more space between them. He knew it wouldn’t do anything, but he had to try. He couldn’t just sit there and do nothing.

Jesse jolted hard enough that the chair clattered to the ground when a klaxon-like alarm pierced through every thought in his mind. He knew that sound. It was the base-wide alarm. Something was happening.

_Oh no._

“Shit!” Gabe slammed the tools down on the table and glared over at Jesse and Hanzo as though this was their doing. “Damn it…what the hell is going on…? We had a drill last week…”

A low rumble resonated through the entire building; it felt like it was making Jesse’s bones clatter. But that was nothing in comparison to the blast that made the walls buckle. Jesse could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he struggled against the handcuffs and chair. His _good_ arm was pinned. The intact one. It felt like there was glass grating under the skin mixed with a variety of other unpleasant things.

“Fuck…fuck me sideways…” Jesse growled as he tried to force the chair to roll. “Fuckin’…sonuva…gonna fuckin’…ow!”

He froze when he felt eyes on him. Jesse met Gabe’s gaze, which was tinged with confusion and recognition. But the moment was gone a second later – another explosion shook the building. A big enough one that Hanzo’s chair jumped a foot closer to Jesse’s.

“Dammit…I gotta find Jack…I can’t…not him too.” Gabe hissed out and glared at Jesse. “This isn’t over.”

_I’m sorry Gabe…I’m sorry I ever thought…I’m sorry…_ Jesse watched Gabe storm out of the room and then break into a sprint. Not even two minutes later, a sound akin to rolling thunder thrummed through the ground.

“Han…Han…fuck, what the…I’m sorry!” Jesse wasn’t even sure why he was apologizing to Hanzo of all people. _I should be apologizin’ to Gabe…_

It looked like Hanzo was about to respond, but a colossal explosion shattered everything in their vicinity. Jesse’s world went bright, blinding white for several long seconds, and then everything went dark.

 

* * *

 

 

Jesse woke with a start – his body jolted forward and he cried out in fear or pain or some mixture of the two. Everything hurt. It felt like every nerve was on fire and he had no way of extinguishing them. The sudden movement had been a mistake – if everything had hurt before, now everything was agony. He groaned and slumped back against the bed.

…bed?

He furrowed his brows together and tried to remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered was an explosion…but he and Hanzo had been in Switzerland. This certainly wasn’t the Swiss HQ medbay. Jesse had been well acquainted with that one. He turned his head as far as he could without making his body scream in agony. This was Gibralter’s medbay. He was back in Gibralter. _Maybe it was just a dream…?_

“Oh! Jesse, you’re awake!” Angela flitted over to his bed and started fretting over him. Her face was twisted in concern and she was biting her lower lip while she looked at Jesse’s chart. “You’ve been out for a bit…how do you feel?”

Jesse wasn’t sure how he felt. He couldn’t tell what was real, his heart felt like it had been ripped to shreds, he felt like the worst surrogate son ever for believing his kind-of-father-figure was the person responsible for blowing up Overwatch HQ. _But…if that was a dream…_

Hanzo.

Where was Hanzo?

“…H…Han…” He was barely able to eke out that one syllable before his voice gave out. His throat felt like sandpaper. Thankfully Angela understood what he meant.

“Hanzo is resting in the bed next to you. He woke up about an hour ago.” Angela had started going through the injured agent post-mission procedures. Jesse’s body almost did them on autopilot from how often he’d done them back in the day.

Jesse sagged with relief when he heard that Hanzo was awake and resting. _Good…I’m glad he’s okay. Not sure what I’d do if he **wasn’t** okay…_

Once water was had and all of Angela’s tests were done, Jesse was allowed to try and speak again.

“Hurts.” He muttered as he shifted uncomfortably. “What happened…?”

Angela looked away from him.

_Wait a second…she only looks away like that when she’s gonna lie. She can’t look at the person cuz she feels too bad._ Jesse had known her long enough to be able to read Angela relatively well. He watched her carefully – maybe she was just mulling over _how_ to say what she needed to say.

“There was an explosion, we were afraid we’d lost you and Hanzo.” Angela spoke in a voice so delicate that Jesse was sure it would shatter if anyone touched it. “It…disrupted all of our equipment. There’s time missing from the records. And you and Hanzo…” She shook her head. “It’s _impossible_. You two have the same residue that Lena gets when she blinks. Which is impossible.”

_Time travel_.

The pit of his stomach plummeted and his throat constricted. If that residue was on them…then…

_What if it was real…?_

“Does sound mighty unlikely.” Jesse went along with what she was saying. It felt like it was the better idea, at least for now. “When do you reckon I can get back to the dorms?”

“I’m keeping both you and Hanzo overnight. You were shot and both of you were unconscious for longer than I’d like.” Angela huffed – she was suddenly back to her usual self. “You did a number on your right arm, Jesse. Be careful…I wouldn’t want you to lose your other arm too.”

Jesse glanced down at his right arm and noted the cast. _No wonder that hurt like a bitch. Been awhile since I broke a bone._ “Guess yer right. Best for us to stay here.”

Angela quirked a brow up. “You must be feeling unwell if you’re agreeing to stay in the medical bay.” Her face softened. “I have a meeting to attend…please rest while I’m gone.”

“I’ve got no intention of gettin’ into trouble, Angela.” Jesse lifted his metal arm to tip his hat only to remember that he was not actually wearing his hat. “Promise I’ll be right here when ya get back.”

She seemed to relax at that and retreated to her office to grab a few things before dashing off to the meeting.

Jesse sighed and slumped back against the crunchy sounding pillows that Angela had given him. It was just him and Hanzo now and he was pretty sure Hanzo was asleep. Not that he blamed him. Sleep was sounding like a mighty fine idea at this point. Maybe it would help him process everything. He rested his head back against the pillow and closed his eyes.

“…Jesse…?” Hanzo’s voice was thin as a string, a far cry from how robust it usually was.

“I’m here, Han.” Jesse tried to sound warm, but he knew he just sounded tired.

He glanced over at Hanzo’s bed and found the archer lying on his side facing him. And that the beds were closer together than usual. Hanzo’s expression was almost timid with lingering hints of fear at the edges. Jesse was struck by how _young_ he looked in that moment. Instead of a hardened assassin and former yakuza leader, there was a young boy who was frightened. That expression alone made Jesse want to and comfort him with a hug or something. _A shame I’d be a pincushion if I did that…_

“…that was real, wasn’t it.” Hanzo didn’t phrase it like a question. It was a statement – it just seemed he was seeking confirmation.

Jesse felt his eyes start watering again and he tucked his face behind his arm. “Yeah…I reckon it was real, Han.” _It was real and I’ve believed Gabe was the cause of the explosion for years. How could I…he’s my family…how…why did I…_

He’d been holding those tears back for what felt like forever and the dam finally broke. Jesse’s breath hitched and he felt big, fat tears start sliding down his cheeks and he couldn’t stop them. He held his breath and willed them away, but his shoulders just shook harder. There was Jesse McCree, thirty-seven years old and the self-proclaimed epitome of true grit, sobbing in the medical bay and pathetically trying to hide it.

Jesse could hear the soft shifting of fabric on sheets and the groan of someone getting to their feet, yet at the same time he didn’t really hear it at all. His bed sagged down as another person sat on it and Jesse jolted hard enough that he yelped in pain.

“Shh…” Hanzo smoothed a hand through Jesse’s hair. The action almost seemed like it was practiced, like Hanzo had done this time and time again. “It’s alright…”

He held onto the sheets with a desperate grip and let out another heaving sob. “N…no, no its not, it can’t be okay. God…Han…I…” Jesse sucked in a deep breath and held it before he started shaking too much from trying to hold everything in. “How could I…”

Hanzo shushed him again and kept trailing his fingers through Jesse’s hair while rearranging both of them on the small bed. Jesse didn’t protest or fight the movement, he just kept his face tucked behind his arm and kept trying to hide the fact that he was falling apart. He let himself be lifted slightly and blinked when he felt something soft under his head, but it didn’t crinkle. It wasn’t one of the pillows Angela had given him. He opened his eyes and found that his head was currently in Hanzo’s lap. Jesse just wasn’t going to question that right now. _This is the closest we’ve been outside of a mission…kinda wish the circumstances were better_.

“…Hanzo…I…I believed he was the one at fault all this time, I’m a godawful sonofagun and…ugh…” The shock of having been moved into Hanzo’s lap had slowed the tears and shocked Jesse into breathing a bit better. “but…he was just doin’ his job…he…”

“Jesse…” Hanzo kept playing with Jesse’s hair and hummed softly. “You went with the facts you were given.”

“I coulda…I coulda…” Another wave of tears was threatening to crash over him. “Fuck…Han, the last thing I said to him was ‘go fuck yourself’. We argued and I left that night. I’m…I wish…”

_I wish I could go back and fix it…I wish…I wish…_

“Shh…let it all out.” Hanzo continued the soothing action of fingers teasing through hair and hummed softly. It took some time, but eventually the tears tapered off and Jesse was just resting against Hanzo’s lap. “We all have regrets, Jesse. We cannot change the past, but we can find ways to atone…we can find redemption.”

Jesse knew that Hanzo was talking about Genji. But Jesse had heard this before…he wouldn’t be able to change what he did while he was with Deadlock, but he could strive towards something better. _An’ I leave Blackwatch an’ fall right back into my old habits. Kinda._

“Not sure I can fix this. No one’s like to believe us, Hanners.” He exhaled hard and frowned. No one in their right mind would believe the story they would be telling. They’d be called crazy and worse.

Silence fell between them again, for several minutes this time. And then Hanzo cleared his throat before speaking. “…there are rumors about the identity of Reaper.”

“Been ignorin’ those.” Jesse grumbled against Hanzo’s leg.

“I am aware.” Hanzo tugged at Jesse’s hair lightly. “But Reaper is the one who tossed the bomb that sent us back. Do you believe that is a coincidence?”

Jesse hadn’t thought of that at all. He knew that Talon had some scary advanced technology given the whole Widowmaker thing, but he hadn’t considered the scope of what they were able to do. If they had gotten the chance to study Lena’s chronal accelerator at all, it was reasonable to assume that they might make something like the bomb. The question was _why_. Talon didn’t gain anything from this.

But if Reaper was Gabe…

And Gabe was the one who tossed the bomb…

“He wanted me to know.” Jesse concluded.

That opened a whole other can of worms that Jesse was not going to think on at the moment. He was too tired, too emotionally drained, too everything. All he wanted to do was sleep for the next week and a half, even though he knew that wasn’t really possible.

“…let’s get some sleep.” Hanzo whispered. “Sit up for a minute.”

The orders were actually appreciated at this point. Jesse didn’t really feel like thinking for himself. That felt too much like work, or effort, or…something. He sat up with his shoulders sagging until he felt strong arms tug him down onto the bed. His face thumped up against chest. Jesse froze as he realized that Hanzo had just pulled him in for a _cuddle_ of all things. _Never thought Hanners would be cuddly…not gonna complain though…_

“Yer a real sweetheart, ya know that, right darlin’?” Jesse murmured against the fabric of Hanzo’s shirt. With Hanzo’s arms wrapped around him and fingers playing with his hair and smoothing against his back…Jesse felt _safe_. The hyper-vigilance that followed a mission gone wrong was waning…impressive considering it usually lingered longer with Jesse than with most. “…thank you, fer everything.”

“I have to uphold an image.” Hanzo’s response was just as soft, but the teasing, light tone made Jesse’s heart flutter. “…you’re very welcome, Jesse.”

_He didn’t scold me for callin’ him darlin’~_

Jesse wanted to revel in that small victory, but sleep was rapidly dragging him down. His body was utterly exhausted from everything he and Hanzo had been through. They’d been friends before this…but now they felt closer than ever. Hanzo was the only one who would ever fully understand this incident; it was something shared just between them. But that wasn’t what was consuming his mind. No, Jesse could feel Hanzo’s heart beating, the steadiness lulling him to a calm slumber. Silence had been what drove Jesse up the wall when he was on the run; it had given him terrible insomnia. Now he had Hanzo’s warmth, the soft sounds of his breathing, and the beating of his heart. They were all reminders that he had someone. That he wasn’t alone.

_Thanks Gabe._


End file.
